Briarpatch is an independent alternative news magazine based in Saskatchewan, Canada and distributed across Canada.
Launched in 1973 as an anti-poverty newsletter published by the Saskatchewan Coalition of Anti-Poverty Organizations, the magazine's founding mission was "to provide a forum for disadvantaged peoples and progressive movements working to change unjust structures and build a genuine political and economic democracy."
Briarpatch is published six times a year by Briarpatch Incorporated, an independent non-profit organization. It is a member of Magazines Canada and the staff are members of RWDSU Local 568.
Briarpatch is printed by union labour on FSC-certified paper using vegetable-based ink.
On August 24, 1973, a ten-page newsletter called Notes from the Briarpatch was published using a Gestetner machine. A subscription cost $2 a year. The publication grew over the next few years, providing a forum for low-income earners. Briarpatch became a magazine with a two-colour cover and two staples in 1976. It increasingly covered issues relevant to women, trade unionists and farmers.
In 1979, the provincial government cancelled Briarpatch's $54,000-a-year funding, claiming the magazine no longer reflected its low-income origins. Many Briarpatch supporters felt the real reason was Briarpatch's vocal criticism of the province’s embrace of uranium mining.
Now relying on reader support and fundraising, the publication received a letter on September 27, 1996 from Revenue Canada informing the magazine that it had "ceased to be a registered charity." Briarpatch had achieved charitable status in 1975, but in 1987, in the midst of Briarpatch's fierce criticisms of the provincial Tory government of Grant Devine, Revenue Canada audited the publication and determined that the magazine no longer fit their criteria.
A lawyer worked on behalf of Briarpatch for free for the next eight years, keeping the lawsuits at bay. The case was finally lost in the Federal Court of Appeal, and as a result, Briarpatch can no longer issue tax receipts to its donors.
In March 2009 Briarpatch launched its new sister publication The Sasquatch [1], which focuses solely on Saskatchewan news and issues.
Briarpatch covers a variety of social just issues like peace, equality, environment, democracy, racism, sexual orientation and class differences.
Maude Barlow once said, Briarpatch is "one of the few voices that will still challenge the corporate agenda and present workable alternatives."